Louie Giglio to Deliver Benediction At President Obama’s Inauguration – then withdraws…

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Please see previous article I have on Louie Giglio:  Louie Giglio – Chasing The Experience (Part 1)Louie Giglio – Sometimes Silence is LoudLouie Giglio – A Baptist with an Emerging Agenda and Beth Moore, John Piper leads the Youth into Lectio Divina at Louie Giglio Passion’s Conference 2012

LOUIE GIGLIO TO DELIVER BENEDICTION AT PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION

BY  âˆ™  âˆ™ IN NEWS
The Washington Post reports that Louie Giglio, pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta and founder of the Passion conferences, has been selected to deliver the benediction at President Obama’s inauguration on 21 January. Said Giglio in a statement:  Said Giglio in a statement:

It is my privilege to have the opportunity to lead our nation in prayer at the upcoming inauguration in Washington, DC. During these days it is essential for our nation to stand together as one. And, as always, it is the right time to humble ourselves before our Maker. SOURCE

The report states that, “An inaugural official said Giglio was picked for the benediction in part because of his work raising awareness about modern-day slavery and human trafficking.” CNN elaborates, reporting that Giglio

was chosen because he’s a “powerful voice for ending human trafficking and global sex slavery” and due to his work in mobilizing young people for that effort, said one of the sources. SOURCE

Louie Giglio’s Passion 2013 conference recently ran from 1-4 January. Held in the Georgia Dome, it has been reported that over 60,000 students between the ages of 18 and 25 attended. While the event has earned praises from the professing Christian and the secular media alike, it also has received its share of criticism. Many raised concerns and sounded the alarm about Passion 2013 due to its inclusion of Bible teachers who are known to twist the Scripture to their own ends. Also of grave concern to many was the involvement of the band Jesus Culture at the event….

Jesus Culture is a band originating from Bill Johnson’s Bethel Church in Redding, California. Johnson actively teaches a signs and wonders theology, as well as theology consistent with the beliefs of the New Apostolic Reformation. The band also claims special, direct revelation from God, saying that

the Lord began to speak to us about a new breed of revivalists that were emerging throughout the earth to answer the cry of God’s yearning for nations. Our mandate was defined: to raise up, mobilize, equip, encourage, resource, and send these burning ones to fulfill the call of God on their lives, and see entire cities saved, campuses revolutionized, and nations discipled. SOURCE

Jesus Culture further claims that they have received a “mandate” and have been “commissioned” by God Himself to mobilize this movement. Lead singer Kim Walker-Smith even purports that she has had lengthy encounters with both Jesus Christ and God the Father, in spite of the fact that Jesus Himself said that no one has seen the Father (John 6:46). Such claims lead one to conclude that, if the members of Jesus Culture truly are hearing from the Almighty, then their words cannot be questioned lest one question the Lord Himself. Assertions such these made by Jesus Culture are dangerous and find no basis in Scripture.

Based upon this information, one may better understand why so many expressed concern with Giglio’s invitation of Jesus Culture to his Passion 2013 event. Being the founder of Passion 2013, Giglio offered both the opening and the closing sermons of the event. During both messages, he appealed greatly to the story of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37. Christian apologist and host of the radio show, Fighting for the Faith, Chris Rosebrough, has aptly demonstrated that Giglio grossly mishandled this biblical text.

Nevertheless, it appears as though Giglio’s growing celebrity has reached the ears of President Obama and has earned him the honor of delivering the inaugural benediction. While Giglio was chosen to deliver the benediction at this event, the President has selected Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights icon Medgar Evers, to deliver the invocation. The Washington Post notes:

It is believed to be the first time a woman, and a layperson rather than a clergy member, has been chosen to deliver what may be America’s most prominent public prayer. SOURCE

The Washington Post sees the selection of these two individuals as a contrasting one, however it seems that the prominent theme in these choices is that of social justice. It is hoped that in whatever words he delivers, Giglio will not allow the false social gospel to overshadow the true, saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.

source:  http://christianresearchnetwork.org/2013/01/08/louie-giglio-to-deliver-benediction-at-presidential-inauguration/

DTW note:  Fighting for the faith – Chris Rosebrough is a Lutheran – please read his website with caution.

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Note:  Articles posted by DTW are not an endorsement of the author, their website, ministry or any links therein. Readers are cautioned to use discernment at all times and test everything by the Word of God. 

Louie Giglio, Living Martyr?

It was announced on 8 January that Louie Giglio, pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta and founder of the Passion conferences, had accepted an invitation to deliver the benediction at President Obama’s inauguration on 21 January.

Immediately following that announcement, someone dug up a 15-20 year old sermon of Giglio’s wherein he made comments about homosexuality that didn’t sit so well with the loudest voices in this country. By the morning of 10 January, Giglio had withdrawn his acceptance of the invitation.

With this news, Louie Giglio immediately became a living martyr among evangelicals. Indeed, the backlash and response to the contents of his sermon was unfortunate-there is little arguing that fact. At the same time, it really should not surprise the Christian who does not have his head stuck in the sand. America is, after all, a Romans 1 nation. We love our sin. We love our sexual sin. We revel in it. We celebrate it. So what do you expect?

But, is Giglio’s withdrawal from the inauguration ceremony worthy of the praise and commendation of Christians? Has he taken the strong stance that so many evangelical leaders would have us believe? Is he a victim, taken to the figurative stake and burned for his adherence to God’s Word?

Now, the argument is swirling based upon a New York Times (NYT) article that Giglio was asked to step aside, that he in essence was ousted. This was the scenario painted at Denny Burk’s blog, however the quote in question has since been removed from the original NYT article.

If one looks at the pastor’s own words, though, Giglio says, “I respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the President’s invitation.”  So if Louie Giglio was asked to step aside, then that needs to be said by Louie Giglio. Otherwise, we should take him at his word. He is, after all, a Christian pastor, and thus his word should be able to be trusted, should it not?

With that, and because Louie Giglio wears the title of Christian pastor, it behooves the Christian to examine the statement he has made regarding this decision to withdraw. The remainder of this post will look at that statement in its entirety, as it was shared with Louie Giglio’s own church.

At the blog of Passion City Church, we read

Dear PCC Family,

Though I was invited by the President of the United States to pray at his upcoming inauguration, after conversations between our team and the White House I am no longer serving in that role. I sent the following statement to the White House today:

I am honored to be invited by the President to give the benediction at the upcoming inaugural on January 21. Though the President and I do not agree on every issue, we have fashioned a friendship around common goals and ideals, most notably, ending slavery in all its forms.

Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15-20 years ago, it is likely that my participation, and the prayer I would offer, will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration. Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past fifteen years. Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.

Neither I, nor our team, feel it best serves the core message and goals we are seeking to accomplish to be in a fight on an issue not of our choosing, thus I respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the President’s invitation. I will continue to pray regularly for the President, and urge the nation to do so. I will most certainly pray for him on Inauguration Day.

Our nation is deeply divided and hurting, and more than ever we need God’s grace and mercy in our time of need.

The issue of homosexuality (which a particular message of mine some 20 years ago addressed) is one of the most difficult our nation will navigate. However, individuals’ rights of freedom, and the collective right to hold differing views on any subject is a critical balance we, as a people, must recover and preserve.

As a pastor, my mission is to love people, and lead them well, while lifting up the name of Jesus above anything else. I’m confident that anyone who knows me or has listened to the multitude of messages I have given in the last decade would most likely conclude that I am not easily characterized as being opposed to people-any people. Rather, I am constantly seeking to understand where all people are coming from and how to best serve them as I point them to Jesus.

In all things, the most helpful thing I can do is to invite each of us to wrestle with scripture and its implications for our lives. God’s words trump all opinions, including mine, and in the end, I believe God’s words lead to life.

My greatest desire is that we not be distracted from the things we are focused on…seeing people in our city come to know Jesus, and speaking up for the last and least of these throughout the world.

Honored to be your pastor,
Louie

Let’s break this down:

I am honored to be invited by the President to give the benediction at the upcoming inaugural on January 21. Though the President and I do not agree on every issue, we have fashioned a friendship around common goals and ideals, most notably, ending slavery in all its forms.

Uniting around common goals is fine, so long as the gospel is not compromised in the process. Any pastor agreeing to offer the benediction at an event such as this should do so with the gospel in mind, not a social agenda. If one truly desires to “end slavery in all its forms,” then start with the great eternal slavery of sin, and seek to “end” that by preaching repentance and forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. (Rom. 6:6-7)

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Rom. 6:16-18)

Giglio continues,

Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15-20 years ago, it is likely that my participation, and the prayer I would offer, will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration.

One might ask Mr. Giglio: Do you still believe the words you preached 15-20 years ago? Do you believe what the Scripture says about the sin of homosexuality? Then stand firm on that Scripture. It is the only worthwhile support you have. If the media labels you as “anti-gay” in the process, does it really matter?

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. (John 15:18-23)

May we be counted worthy to be persecuted for the name of Christ! May we never back down on what we know to be true because it has been spoken in His Word. May we never be ashamed of our Master, seeking to step aside from conflict that arises simply because the world hates Him, as He told us it would.

Next, Giglio offers a most curious statement:

Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past fifteen years.

Look closely at the sentence above and then answer this question: If a man has not seen fit to preach on the topic of sin in the past fifteen years, then can he legitimately wear the title of Christian pastor? Homosexuality is a sin. It is in the Bible. Preaching about sin (not just homosexual sin, but all sin) must be a weekly priority for every pastor. Why? Because without teaching your flock about the sinful nature of man, without sharing with them their depravity and wickedness, they cannot see their need for a Savior, nor can they see and understand the great, glorious, saving gospel of grace! The Good News is not good news if there is not bad news delivered first. A pastor who has not placed sin as a priority within his sermons for one and a half decades is, it could be argued, a pastor in name only. The Apostle Paul tells us,

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Tim. 1:15-16)

Giglio then shares what the purpose of his ministry has been over the past fifteen years:

Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.

This sentence does not even make sense. Is he calling people to be significant? One would hope not, since Jesus must always increase as we decrease (John 3:30). Further, one cannot “make much of Jesus” if one diminishes sin. With a diminished view of sin, Jesus is unnecessary. The good news of the gospel, as Paul taught us in 1 Timothy (quoted above) is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and that, through his life, death and resurrection He has saved sinners. But if we choose to ignore the concept of sin in any form, then that good news fails to maintain any concept of goodness. Christians are to call people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ (Luke 24:47). Any other mission is doomed to fail.

What Giglio has stated here is not the gospel. And if Louie Giglio’s aim has not been to proclaim the gospel and the whole counsel of God, then he has been gravely off-target. If one truly desires to “make much of Jesus Christ,” then one may consider calling people to repent of their sins and to turn to Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Nothing gives God more glory.

Giglio continues:

Neither I, nor our team, feel it best serves the core message and goals we are seeking to accomplish to be in a fight on an issue not of our choosing, thus I respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the President’s invitation. I will continue to pray regularly for the President, and urge the nation to do so. I will most certainly pray for him on Inauguration Day.

Mr. Giglio has been called out and attacked for teaching the truth about the sin of homosexuality as found in God’s Word. Yet, this is not a battle he thinks is worthy to fight? Oh, what a travesty! To think there is a man posing as an under-shepherd of the Lord Jesus Christ who will not stand and defend his Shepherd’s Word!

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 1:3)

Opposition will come from both within and without. In neither instance is the Christian to retreat from the battle that rages against God’s truth.

Continuing Giglio’s statement:

Our nation is deeply divided and hurting, and more than ever we need God’s grace and mercy in our time of need.

More than ever, this country needs the truth. It does not need weak and wobbling Christians.

The issue of homosexuality (which a particular message of mine some 20 years ago addressed) is one of the most difficult our nation will navigate. However, individuals’ rights of freedom, and the collective right to hold differing views on any subject is a critical balance we, as a people, must recover and preserve.

Yes, individuals have a right to “hold differing views” on this subject (though all Christians should hold the same view). Yet, how is withdrawing from this event demonstrating this? Those who would call Christians intolerant best learn to be tolerant themselves. Christians who cater to their whims should never complain, then, when liberal agendas plunge forward with commanding speed.

As a pastor, my mission is to love people, and lead them well, while lifting up the name of Jesus above anything else. I’m confident that anyone who knows me or has listened to the multitude of messages I have given in the last decade would most likely conclude that I am not easily characterized as being opposed to people-any people. Rather, I am constantly seeking to understand where all people are coming from and how to best serve them as I point them to Jesus.

If a pastor truly wants to “love people and lead them well,” then he best heed the duties of a pastor as declared in Scripture:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

Preach. The. Word. In season and out of season. Meaning, whether people like it or not. Whether it attracts 60,000 people or 6. Preach the word: reprove, rebuke, exhort. Teach truth because people would rather be led astray by false doctrine; lies that sound good now but that lead to damnation. You cannot truly “love people and lead them well” if you do not preach sin, and the forgiveness that is available through repentance of that sin and faith in Jesus Christ. You cannot effectively “lift up the name of Jesus above anything else” if you are willing to compromise on anything found in His Word.

In all things, the most helpful thing I can do is to invite each of us to wrestle with scripture and its implications for our lives. God’s words trump all opinions, including mine, and in the end, I believe God’s words lead to life.

It is a bit frightening to think that the most “helpful thing” a pastor can do is “invite” people to “wrestle with scripture.” On the topic of homosexuality, the Bible is clear. On the topic of all sin, the Bible is clear. And on the way of salvation, the Bible is clear (John 14:6). The duty of the pastor is to open up Scripture, proclaim it and explain it so that those who are lost may hear the truth and be saved. God’s words do lead to life, on this we can heartily agree.

My greatest desire is that we not be distracted from the things we are focused on…seeing people in our city come to know Jesus, and speaking up for the last and least of these throughout the world.

Again, people cannot “come to know Jesus” in a saving way if they are not helped to understandwhy they need Jesus Christ as their Savior. That entails preaching the whole counsel of God, including the reality of man’s sinful nature and depravity, which is the very reason we need a perfect Savior in the first place.

for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. (Acts 20:27-28)

There is little doubt that my thoughts on this fall into the minority. As many Christians have sought to make Louie Giglio a living martyr, they have allowed themselves to compromise and to be blinded as to what Giglio has truly said in this statement. Why the compromise? So that they may be united against a common enemy: the liberals. Yet, why are we surprised that the liberals are angry over what they deem to be “anti-gay” sentiment? Why are we surprised that those who hate God are upset over what God says in His Word? Is this a reason to ignore the true implications of what has been stated here by the pastor of Passion City Church? If one truly examines this statement, one may find that Giglio’s weak words here actually help to qualify him even more, in the mind of the liberal, to deliver the benediction at the inauguration.

The truths and convictions of God’s Word ought never to be undermined to unite against a common enemy. The Bible is the greatest weapon Christians have at their disposal against the enemies of Christ. If we diminish that, then we have laid down our arms and are no longer worthy of the battle.

source:  http://www.donotbesurprised.com/2013/01/louie-giglio-living-martyr.html

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11 Responses

  1. Louie Giglio is a Calvinist as is his partner in false teaching John Piper…

  2. Invincible Chicken says:

    [EDITED by DTW: Caution: Apprising Ministries is a CALVINIST website – Calvinists are great at exposing false teaching EXCEPT THEIR OWN.]

    Revisiting the Old Latter Rain Prophecy in Light of Current Events

    “August 3-5, 2011… I believe God is going to release an awakening on a new breed of healing revivalists who will be anointed, activated and sent back into their campuses and cities. And we will see an uncontainable fire once again come out of Chicago only this time it will ‘ignite a generation that will change the world’. See You There.”
    Banning Liebscher, Jesus Culture Director

    “Let’s believe that stadiums will be filled with signs and wonders…. And stadiums are going to be filled. We are entering into the days of the great awakening. And I believe Jesus Culture is carrying the mantle for stadium Christianity and signs and wonders…. [T]o release the greatest Jesus Movement….
    Lou Engle[1]

    Lou Giglio is scheduled to give the benediction* at the Obama Presidential Inauguration on January 21. The official announcement describes him as “the Rev. Louie Giglio, the pastor of the Passion City Church in Atlanta” and says he “is considered one of the highest-profile evangelical Christian pastors. He has been prominent in efforts to end human trafficking.”[1]

    This invitation is significant because Lou Giglio is currently under a great deal of fire in some quadrants of the evangelical world for his controversial association with New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) leader Bill Johnson and a music group/ministry called Jesus Culture.

    Bill and Brenda Johnson are the Senior Pastors of Bethel Church in Redding, California. Bethel Church is firmly aligned with the Word-Faith movement and identifies with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), or the Third Wave Movement with its “prophets,” “apostles,” and alleged manifestions. Bill Johnson is called an “apostle” by C. Peter Wagner (See TBC 5/97, 2/07). His theology has amounted to what some call a “ de facto denial of the deity of Christ.”[2]

    At issue is the fact that Johnson’s Bethel Church spawned Jesus Culture, described as “not just a band, but a ministry to ignite revival in the nations of the earth.”[3] This end-time revival is a key doctrine of the New Apostolic Reformation. According to an Apprising Ministries report “LOUIE GIGLIO, PASSION 2013, AND JESUS CULTURE,” this Jesus Culture band was featured in Lou Giglio’s Passion2013 event. A previous Jesus Culture event called Awakening 2011 “was put on by the Jesus Culture ministry itself” and was billed as “IGNITING A GENERATION OF REVIVALISTS FROM AROUND THE NATION TO CHANGE THE WORLD.” Key speakers included well-known NAR leaders Reinhard Bonnke, Bill Johnson, Lou Engle and Cindy Jacobs, among others.[4]

    The significance of all of this is described in a series of in-depth reports published by Apprising Ministries. Lou Giglio has a widespread outreach and appeal to mainstream evangelicals, and his Passion2013 event, held at the Georgia Dome on January 1-4, included “Beth Moore, John Piper, Francis Chan, rapper Lecrae… and pastor Judah Smith of of The City Church in Seattle and popular Christian band, Jesus Culture.”[5] To read more, and view the documentary evidence and recordings, see the following reports:

    JESUS CULTURE AND JUDAH SMITH TO JOIN PIPER, MOORE, CHAN AND OTHERS AT GIGLIO’S PASSION 2013
    LOUIE GIGLIO TWISTS EZEKIEL 37 AT PASSION 2013
    FRIENDS OF BETHEL CHURCH, HOME OF JESUS CULTURE
    JESUS CULTURE—OF BETHEL CHURCH—AND PRACTICING RAISING THE DEAD
    JESUS CULTURE—YOU SURE IT’S THE REAL JESUS?
    AN INVASION OF ERROR—REVIEW OF WHEN HEAVEN INVADES EARTH BY BILL JOHNSON
    BETH MOORE AND JOHN PIPER SET FOR PASSION 2013 WITH LOUIE GIGLIO

    Of particular concern is the open association of these evangelical leaders such as Lou Giglio, Beth Moore and John Piper with controversial elements of the New Apostolic Reformation.[6] We have been warning for a long time about the desire of the false apostles and prophets of the NAR and IHOP to mainstream themselves both into the church and American politics. The leadership hopes to gain legitimacy and credibility by piggybacking themselves onto credible-sounding causes and naive, gullible and/or like-minded evangelical mainstream leaders and groups. The question must be asked: Does Lou Giglio share Bill Johnson’s beliefs about the endtimes, which dovetail with the heretical teachings of the NAR and IHOP?

    Johnson believes that there will be a great end-time revival that will be initiated by an “Elijah generation” (a concept from the heretical Latter Rain movement) that shall transcend all other generations of Christians in regard to their ability to do great works of power. Johnson claims the following about himself and associates: “We will carry the Elijah anointing in preparing for the return of the Lord in the same way that John the Baptist carried the Elijah anointing and prepared the people for the coming of the Lord” (Johnson: 184).

    Supposedly these elitists will set off a great revival of signs and wonders greater than those of Jesus. This miracle explosion, they expect, will cause a great revival before the return of Christ. Johnson states, “I live for the revival that is unfolding and believe it will surpass all previous moves combined, bringing more than one billion souls into the Kingdom” (Johnson: 23).[7] [emphases added]

    Johnson’s church birthed the Jesus Culture phenomenon in 1999. Jesus Culture has described itself in Latter Rain cult terms: “A few years into hosting conferences at Redding [CA], the Lord began to speak to us about a new breed of revivalists that were emerging throughout the earth in answer to the cry of God’s yearning for nations.” This call for nations was described in Dominionist terms, “Our mandate was defined: to raise up, mobilize, equip, encourage, resource, and send these burning ones to fulfill the call of God on their lives, and see entire cities saved, campuses revolutionized, and nations discipled.” This “mandate” would include the typical NAR/IHOP essentials of “passion,” spiritual warfare and walking “in the supernatural.” Calling themselves a “new breed of revivalists” (also a Latter Rain term), they “began taking Jesus Culture conferences to different regions” in order to “ignite revival in the nations of the earth.”[8] [all emphases added]

    Lou Giglio & Lou Engle – Two Peas In A Pod?
    Parents and grandparents, as well as pastors and church youth leaders across the evangelical world, seem very excited about youth going to these youth revival events. Ostensibly these events are supposed to help young people affirm or reaffirm a commitment of faith. But is that what these events are really all about?

    Both Lou Giglio and Lou Engle head up frenzied youth movements filled with excessive “passion” and mood-altering music at popular, packed stadium events. But do they teach the full Gospel of Salvation? There have been many similarities between the two over the years, but with Lou Giglio’s open association with Jesus Culture which Lou Engle endorsed as the new “mantle,” the questions can now be asked: Are they working together in similar alignment? Do they share the same endtime goals and beliefs? Lou Engle’s prophecy (at the top of this post) links Jesus Culture to endtime prophecies that have been circulating in the Latter Rain movement since the late 1980s about a New Breed of youth, which is an “elect seed” that will fill stadiums. These prophecies were delivered by the Kansas City Prophets (now known as the IHOP movement headed by Mike Bickle). Lou Engle, as we have reported previously, and his ministry TheCall and other groups, has been at the forefront of trying to make these prophecies come true.

    One of the common denominators between the two men is the call for “justice” or “social justice,” which has a definition rooted in the old Social Gospel movement of the early 20th century. For instance, Lou Engle held an event on the Washington Mall on August 16, 2008 called “God Has A Dream.” We wrote at the time:

    To get a sense of the extraordinary nature of this upcoming “God’s Dream” event, check out “The Vision” posted at TheCall Institute, which is to “equip, disciple and commission an emerging generation of radical Nazirites to prepare the way of the Lord by embracing a lifestyle of prayer and fasting that is energized by intimacy with Jesus…. [A] new breed of young men and women….” [emphasis added]

    A highly disturbing video posted at TheCall’s website describes the extreme nature of this youth movement, and states that “those who come will be marked forever and they will be history-makers and dreamers of God’s dream.” Notice the young men and women in this brownish-greyish video have marks on their foreheads.

    A similarly disturbing video is posted at The Luke 18 Project which is interconnected with TheCall. It states that 10,000 apostolic young men and women, by their radical lifestyle of prayer and fasting, and in conjunction with the fulfillment of a “dream of launching massive solemn assemblies of fasting and prayer” will “release justice over the earth” and start prayer cells (called “prayer FURNACES”) that “will transform cities, finish the task of the Great Commission and prepare a way for Jesus to return to the planet to establish his kingdom forever and ever….” The context for much of this activity is through food deprivation (fasting) in conjunction with a hypnotic-like fervor of mass prayer rallies — “filled stadiums and arenas.”[9][emphases added]

    The Latter Rain prophecies about the necessity of a NEW BREED of youth for an endtime revival were given by Kansas City Prophets Bob Jones, Mike Bickle and Paul Cain in the late 1980s. Bob Jones, in a conversation with Mike Bickle, described a vision in which he saw “elected seeds” that would be an “end generation” that would be “predestined to inherit all things.” He claimed they would “set the church on the proper foundations…. They’ll birth the church…. be the leaders of the last day church…. [and be] the best of all the generations.” He claimed they would “move into things of the supernatural” to the point where they would actually “put death itself underneath their feet.” (Note: this prophecy is significant in light of Bill Johnson’s Bethel Church and reports of its attempts to raise the dead.)

    This New Breed would be a “warfare” generation that would “take the promised land” and “possess it.” In a sense of pure Gnostic heresy, Bob Jones claimed that this New Breed generation would reach the “full maturity of the God-Man!” He reiterated that this generation would be “coming into that divine nature of Jesus Christ.”

    Mike Bickle replied that this “end-time army” would have “300,000 enlistment notices” for the “next generation.” This “300,000… would be the main leadership over one billion converts in the earth” and they would “bear a distinct anointing.” This army generation was referred to in racial terms as “the best of every blood line in the earth” and “superior” to every other “seed” on earth. Bickle explained that there would be a “time of war and transitioning of whole new orders in the body.”[10] These Latter Rain leaders teach that their New Breed of Elect Seeds will be an endtime Joel’s Army. For example, Rick Joyner, another Latter Rain teacher, has stated:

    There will be a special anointing released for mobilizing the army of the Lord…. There will be an impartation of strategic vision… to boldly march against the greatest strongholds of our time… This army of which Joel speaks is about to be revealed…. They will take cities. They will burst through the enemy’s strongholds and take houses (families). The very heavens and the earth are about to shake because of this great army… the time has come.[11][emphases added]

    THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FILLED STADIUMS
    There is another key Latter Rain prophecy regarding the rise of their New Breed youth movement — that of filled stadiums. In 1996, researcher Ed Tarkowski wrote a report about the Promise Keepers phenomenon,[12] which was a movement that was said (at that time) to be the fulfillment of the original Kansas City Prophets prophecies about filling stadiums. But, as can be seen from the quotes at the top of this post, these prophecies are now being applied to both the Lou Giglio and Lou Engle youth movements. Below are some key excerpts from this Tarkowski report:

    In a Grace Ministries [“Kansas City Prophets,” ed.] tape, November 1988 called, “My Father’s House,” Kansas City Vineyard Pastor, Paul Cain, expresses this eschatological view:

    I don’t know what the second coming is to you, …but let me tell you he’s coming to you, he’s coming to his Church, he’s coming to abide in you, to take up his abode in you… I want you to know he’s coming to the Church before he comes for the Church. He’s gonna perfect the Church so the Church can be the Image, be Him, and be his representation.

    In this talk, Cain defended himself that he wasn’t denying the rapture, but spoke of Jesus coming again to indwell His Church as a corporate body where the whole body experiences Him all at the same time. This is Latter Rain doctrine. Allegorical Pentecost to the Latter Rain adherent is a coming of God to the individual — it is a personal experience. To them, the allegorical Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated when God comes to the entire Church and fills it with the manifest Glory of God. Cain told his audience,

    We are not just looking for glory in God, we want God to be glorified in us. Oh, let God be glorified in us, let this be your intent. Everybody in this room tonight that has the intent to follow through and act accordingly, the Lord says I will truly visit you, and I will make this real to you. The Lord will commit himself to you.

    Then he tells us how to follow through and act accordingly so this glory will be made real to the Church before Christ returns.

    Just dump all that stuff, just dump all that carnal knowledge, and dump some of the stuff we have learned through the years.

    Is he saying dump your doctrine and your hope and go for this unbiblical experience? Tricia Tillin of Banner Ministries in England has noted these peculiar doctrines:

    The Glory, in the Latter Rain understanding, is the visible manifestation of the Spirit. Now, in light of the satanic nature of this deception, it is not surprising that deceived Christians are being led to expect a manifested spirit and not the visible return of the Lord Jesus. I believe the way we are headed is into teaching about the return of the `lord` to his church, in glory, before (or perhaps even instead of?) the physical return of Jesus.

    This doctrine, once declared a heresy, is finding a place in all denominations through the unity of charismatics with other faiths. Cain says out of this unity will come an army, Joel’s Army, a Latter Rain belief based on the book of Joel:

    I told you about …this recurring [35 year-old] vision I had…The angel of the Lord said, `You’re standing at the crossroads of life. What do you see?’ And I saw a brilliantly lit billboard which reads, `Joel’s Army now in training.’ …I believe one day soon Joel’s Army will be in training …until it graduates into the stadium …But a right understanding of the plan of God for this generation brings this tremendous inclusion… God’s offering to you, this present generation, a greater privilege than was ever offered any generation at any time from Adam clear down through the millennium.

    Paul Cain claimed this was the plan of God for this generation — everybody — all denominations — because it is the plan of God for the “last of the last days.” On a Grace Ministries tape of a talk given by Cain some years ago in Missouri, he told his audience,

    I had a vision of you people coming from …a circle of maybe a hundred miles and I saw people coming from every major city within that circumference and a great conclave was taking place, and it was the training of Joel’s Army…. I believe that people are going to come together by the thousands and train for the Army of the Lord. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I mean, that’s long overdue.

    When enough pastors and other leaders are trained, for the Army of the Lord, he expects the greatest revival of all time to result. During his talk in Missouri, Cain described his vision for this endtime revival:

    All of the stadiums and all of the ballparks are filled with hundreds of thousands of people. They have hearses lined up, ambulances lined up. They have hundreds of stretcher cases and all that. And there are men standing there in the pulpit, there are women standing there that haven’t had a change of raiment in three days, they haven’t had a drink of water, they haven’t had any food and they’re preaching under the mighty power. “Why, did you see that last night on ABC? Did you see that man levitated? Did you see all those preachers levitated? Did you see that fixed pose? They stood there for 24 hours in a fixed pose, worshiping and praising God, and hundreds of thousands came by and fell on their face and nobody pushed them. And nobody shoved them. They fell under the power of God.” And everybody everywhere is crying, “Oh, this is God! Jesus is Lord!” It seems like the whole world is turning to God.

    [In the 1990s], Cain spoke at Christ Chapel in Florence, Alabama, and shared a dream he’d received when he was 19 years old. Again, the emphasis was on huge numbers of people in stadiums:

    I had a dream that became a recurring dream, and it was about all the stadiums — and we’ve told this hundreds and hundreds of times all across America, all over the world, in fact — and I saw these stadiums and football fields, soccer fields and sports arenas, all of them filled with thousands of people, sometimes over 100,000 in each place. (August 30, 1995, evening session)

    In the Alabama meeting Cain connected his prediction of stadiums-full of soldiers in his Army of the Lord with the reality of stadiums-full of warriors in the Promise Keepers army. He said,

    We call it “the last days ministry,” …I believe we’re on the threshold of it…And I know the Lord is coming to His Church and he’s going to prepare us…. We’re closer to it than we’ve ever been before. Who would think that there would be a group like Promise Keepers who’d already be setting the stage and filling stadiums with tens of thousands of people, …They’ll be over 100,000 in no time, and maybe they already are. I think an event’s already planned that way. So, what if God shows up at just one of those meetings? That could just be the kick-off for “last days ministry.” Think about that… What if 120,000 get together and then the fire comes from heaven and the glory of God…?

    …Cain said we are on the threshold of God’s glory possibly coming upon 100,000 pastors…. When you read this in conjunction with Latter Rain proponent Francis Frangipane’s new book, The Days of His Presence, there is reason for concern. Is Promise Keepers the catalyst for the anticipated Latter Rain “revival”? In a write-up on the book, Frangipane himself says,

    The Spirit of the Lord is moving on so many fronts. In just the past ten months we have seen racial reconciliations take place among Southern Baptists in Atlanta; in Memphis, leaders from Pentecostal denominations, once divided along racial lines, are now reunited, while white Evangelical leaders repented with blacks in Chicago. We can truly say the Lord is moving mightily on his people. Mix in the March for Jesus and the 750,000 Promise Keepers, and we are seeing the stage set for what I believe will be the greatest awakening of this century.

    March for Jesus drew 20,000,000…. Promise Keepers [drew] 750,000. That adds up to 20,750,000 Christians, and Frangipane is saying that this multitude will set the stage for revival…. Frangipane describes this next great awakening in his book:

    This book chronicles the vision the Lord gave me in 1971…. The Holy Spirit revealed the baptism of glory that the Father has prepared for the end of the age.

    Prior to Jesus Christ’s physical return, His living presence will companion the church in ever increasing power. During this time the visible glory of the Lord will rise and appear upon God’s people.

    Notice this: God’s visible glory will rise and appear on His people prior to Jesus’ return. This is new revelation — it’s Latter Rain teaching, and Frangipane [claimed] 20,750,000 members of Christ’s body [were] being prepared to have the visible glory of God come on them! This prophetic word says that the Church will be glorified and changed to be like Christ Jesus our Lord — not when we see Him face to face, but when we reconcile our differences. This appears to be the goal of the ecumenical unity movement. Jesus can’t come back until everybody agrees and gets along….

    Conclusion
    In conclusion, there are growing concerns about Lou Giglio, who is going very public this month with his high profile benediction at Obama’s inauguration ceremony. Unfortunately this pastor will represent the new face of evangelicaldom — exhibiting an evangelical world that has lost its Gospel moorings and is now involved in Social Gospel issues. Furthermore, because he is a youth leader who has chosen to associate with the New Apostolic Reformation, which is derived from the old Latter Rain cult, questions need to be raised about whether he believes their prophecies about a New Breed of Elect Seeds/Joel’s Army generation that will take over the earth.

    It is one thing for Giglio to take a stand against global slavery — which he purports to do. But there is no “social justice” in a false cult teaching that proclaims that there is a superior race generation, and inflames the “passions” of a purported new breed of elect seed who are said to be destined to become an army to rule the earth!

    “None calleth for justice,
    nor any pleadeth for truth:
    they trust in vanity, and speak lies;
    they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.”
    (Isaiah 59:4)

    Endnotes:
    1. Emphases added. Graphic image and quotes from Jesus Culture Awakening 2011 promo piece, featuring Bill Johnson, Reinhard Bohnnke and Cindy Jacobs, Be sure to watch the video archived and posted at http://apprising.org/2013/01/02/louie-giglio-passion-2013-and-jesus-culture/ to hear the prophecies about the new generation. Original ource given is: http://web.archive.org/web/20110703122815/http://www.jesusculture.com/awakening/
    1. Daniel Strauss, “Evers-Williams, Giglio to give invocation and benediction at inauguration,” The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room, Jan. 8, 2013, http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/276041-evers-williams-giglio-to-give-invocation-and-benediction-at-inauguration-#ixzz2HPLgwSCA
    2. Ken Silva, “Lou Giglio, Passion 2013, and Jesus Culture,” Apprising Ministries, Jan 2, 2013, http://apprising.org/2013/01/02/louie-giglio-passion-2013-and-jesus-culture/ citing the Berean Call’s report, posted at http://www.thebereancall.org/content/august-2012-q-and-a-1
    3. Ken Silva, Ibid. http://apprising.org/2013/01/02/louie-giglio-passion-2013-and-jesus-culture/
    4. Ibid.
    5. Ken Silva, “JESUS CULTURE AND JUDAH SMITH TO JOIN PIPER, MOORE, CHAN AND OTHERS AT GIGLIO’S PASSION 2013,” January 1, 2013, http://apprising.org/2013/01/01/jesus-culture-and-judah-smith-to-join-piper-moore-chan-and-others-at-giglios-passion-2013/
    6. Note that Lou Giglio also has an association with Hillsong of Sydney, Australia. See Erin Benziger’s report “LOUIE GIGLIO TO JOIN WORD FAITH LINEUP AT 2012 HILLSONG CONFERENCE,” at Apprising Ministries: http://apprising.org/2012/07/01/louie-giglio-to-join-word-faith-lineup-at-2012-hillsong-conference/#more-70639. This association is a long one, as we have in our files a September 2008 e-mail from GodTV that advertises “the Hillsong Colour Conference – Bobbie Houston, Louie Giglio.”
    7. See the online report by Bob DeWaay, and expert on the NAR, titled “AN INVASION OF ERROR—REVIEW OF WHEN HEAVEN INVADES EARTH BY BILL JOHNSON,” posted at: http://apprising.org/2013/01/06/an-invasion-of-error-review-of-when-heaven-invades-earth-by-bill-johnson/#more-82769. Note that Bill Johnson was key in in restoring Todd Bentley with Rick Joyner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXNa1u87cXc and also see: http://apprising.org/2012/09/14/todd-bentley-bring-the-power-not-the-gospel/. See the many articles posted online about this: http://www.morningstarministries.org/resources/special-bulletins/2011/update-todd-bentley-note-bill-johnson#.UOxxfKVJWQc and http://www.morningstarministries.org/resources/special-bulletins/2009/todd-bentley-begins-restoration-process-0#.UOxxk6VJWQc. See more on Bill Johnson with C. Peter Wagner and the NAR: http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word/6611 and he is included in the NAR book THE REFORMER’S PLEDGE with Cindy Jacobs and Chuck Pierce and other NAR leaders: http://www.amazon.com/Reformers-Pledge-Bill-Johnson/dp/0768432693
    8. See the graphic exhibits at “JESUS CULTURE AND JUDAH SMITH TO JOIN PIPER, MOORE, CHAN AND OTHERS AT GIGLIO’S PASSION 2013,” http://apprising.org/2013/01/01/jesus-culture-and-judah-smith-to-join-piper-moore-chan-and-others-at-giglios-passion-2013/. Original source is
    9. “God’s Dream? A KINGDOM BUILDING DREAM,” July 17, 2008, http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/07/gods-dream.html.
    The original video links are no longer online, but the young people in them were sporting actual MARKS on their foreheads. Emphases added.
    10. This conversation is transcribed and posted at the Herescope post, “The NEW BREED defined,” 2/3/06, http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/02/new-breed-defined.html. Transcripts of the Latter Rain prophecies of the Kansas City Prophets are available from Discernment Ministries.
    11. See the Herescope post, “IHOP’s New Breed Leaders,” 7/16/11, and read the list of quotations there: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihops-new-breed-leaders.html. This particular quote comes from Rick Joyner, The Morning Star Prophetic Bulletin, August 1994, footnote 20 in the Oct/Nov/Dec 1994 Discernment Ministries Newsletter, http://www.discernment-ministries.org/Newsletters/NL1994OctNovDec.pdf
    12. Ed Tarkowski, “The Significance of Filled Stadiums,” reprinted from the February 1996 issue of The Christian Conscience magazine, Vol. 2 No. 2. Republished here in its entirety: http://www.discernment-ministries.org/Articles/FilledStadiums.pdf. We note with sadness that Ed Tarkowski passed away last week after a long battle with illness. Some emphases added.

  3. Abe says:

    Giglio is a false teacher that doesn’t delineate anything clearly from a strictly Biblical standpoint. That’s why nothing he says matches up or has any consistency, and why verbiage he uses is so unclear. He’s also calvinist and “social gospel”.

    And this is also why his closest ministry friends are all dominionists. If you want to know why this is happening, read about the “vision” that Paul Cain had for the so-called “church” in the days that we’re living in now. Back in the 50’s and 60’s, Cain talked about the “church” becoming exactly what we are watching now, an apostate mess. Of course, Cain didn’t call it that. Cain called it “the next big move of God”.

  4. Abe says:

    LOL the invisible chicken just posted some stuff about Cain in a post above me 🙂

  5. Thank you is an good to seen the president evolvo in the church because the word of god said the church must pray for Gorvemant. Because Gorvament he shoose by god the church must support gorverment thank you god bless

  6. Sodaya

    No sosaya, did you READ the article? OPEN YOUR EYES. Barack Obama is a type of anti-Christ and Louie Giglio was going to do the inaugauration prayer for him. That makes Louie Giglio an antiChrist.

  7. Redeemed says:

    Whether intentional or not, Abe gave me a chuckle. He referred to “Invincible Chicken” as “Invisible Chicken”. My, what a difference just a few letters make!

  8. Carolyn says:

    Oh…thank you, thank you, Abe. I love a good laugh.

    …after so many serious remarks, it is good to have some comic relief. Besides, it reminds me of something I would do. I’m always spelling things wrong or creating the next freudian slip. Even when I reread something…I miss it because my brain is already past the point of no return.

    I spelled goshawk “gawshawk” in one post which still disturbs me to this day…and even though I idolized the Beatles as a youth, I still spelled it “Beetles” in another post. Sometimes, I think it’s time to call it quits, but it seems like the Holy Spirit bypasses what I want and he tells me to strap on my belt of Truth, hands me the Sword of the Spirit and sends me out for another round.

  9. Carolyn says:

    …besides, the invisible chicken is anything but invisible. He’s made his point so that no one can possibly miss it. BTW I agree with your comment….still laughing….

  10. Martin Horan says:

    Because we are to pray for governments doesn’t mean that we have to agree with them. Satan is the god of this world so he is the god of this world’s goverments. Surely when we pray for ANY of today’s governments we ought to be praying for the conversions of their politicians and of their coming out of their parties.
    Bible prophecy is very clear about what ALL these End Times goverments will be doing.
    I’m not saying that Obama is THE anti-Christ but he is definitely AN anti-Christ. If the leader of any church denomination can’t see that then he must be incredibly ignorant of Obama’s anti-biblical stances on almost everything he claims to represent. And should such an ignorant man be a church leader?
    Personally, I would think that any churchman who would be willing to give a benediction at an Obama–or any other political–inauguration is probably not a real Christian. Surely Obama needs to be publicly rebuked (like all other political leaders), not publicly condoned.

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